Review of my 9-2 sailing on Infinity, Ravenna to Athens...

[Stockjock]

I did a day-by-day thread on this, but here's the condensed review...

 

About us: I'm in my early 60s and my GF is in her late 50s.  I've cruised over 20 times, mostly on Celebrity & MSC.
 

Full Thread/Blog: I did a day-by-day write-up called "We board Infinity in about an hour.  Let me know if you have any questions".  It goes into considerably more detail.
 

Overview: This was a 7 day cruise out of Ravenna, which is about 3 hours from Venice.  It stopped in Dubrovnik, Santorini, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Nafpilo, and ended up in Athens.
 

Our Cabin: Ocean View cabin 3114, which had the double-sized window.  Check YouTube for my recent video cabin tour.
 

Pre-Cruise/Post-Cruise: We spent 3 nights in Venice pre-cruise & 3 nights in Athens post-cruise.  Both are highly recommended.
 

Pre-Flight: We used Flights by Celebrity and it was an utter disaster and exercise in frustration.  See my thread on the Celebrity forum entitled, "A Flights by Celebrity Error that Worked to my Favor" (Hint: it didn't).
 

Transportation: We took Celebrity's paid shuttle from Venice to Ravenna.  It was efficient and inexpensive.
 

The Passengers: Mostly American, an eclectic mix of all ages.  Just about everyone was well-behaved.
 

Embarkation: Relatively smooth, fast and efficient.  
 

The Ship: It's old but in relatively good condition.  I wouldn't hesitate to book it, but there were a few problems to follow.
 

The Food: I ate every bite, but it's gone downhill for sure.  Celebrity has no business mentioning their Michelin-Starred Chef.  It's just not in that league.  Mostly enjoyable, yet at the same time, disappointing given our prior experiences.
 

The Service: Generally very good, but we did have a few problems.
 

Problems:

I booked this cruise over a year ago.  We selected a set late dining at 8:30 pm and this was confirmed.  The first night, there was a huge line for set dining, only after waiting at least 20 minutes, they had to work hard to find us a table.  The next night, they told us we didn't have a set dining time (they'd moved us, for reasons unknown) and another 20 minutes to find us a table, which they said was our table for the remainder of the cruise.  Night 3, someone else was in our table and they handed me a pager (30 mins before closing) and said it would be a 30-40 minute wait to find us a table.  This made my GF cry, giving me a hard time for choosing Celebrity.  She asked, "Why can't we just sit down and enjoy a nice dinner?"  I asked for a supervisor and eventually on night 4 things were straightened out.
 

Shower was cold to lukewarm, at best, when others were apparently showering.
 

Food quality hit and miss.  Many steps down from our prior experiences.  Thin, low-quality sirloin steaks were offered w/a lot of fat and gristle.  Not a lot of variety.  I did enjoy the Prime Rib and Leg of Lamb, but overall disappointing.  The buffet was also hit and miss, ranging from excellent (Greek Lunch) to very good (French Lunch), to pretty good or okay.  We only did dinner once in the buffet and it was just okay.
 

We also had a problem w/our excursions.  In terms of our Rhodes excursion, they moved it from morning to afternoon, then back to morning w/only a slip of paper to tell us that was in with the receipt.  I could have easily missed this, and thus, missed our excursion.

They also cancelled our Santorini excursion, which I had booked during a Flash Sale at 35%.  They said I could book a replacement at full price and then, after I visited the Shore Excursions desk, only begrudgingly offered a 10% discount.  I pretty much demanded 35% off, since it wasn't my fault that they cancelled, and it took a lot of arguing to get them to offer a similar discount, including discussion w/staff, 2 excursions supervisors and Guest Services.  I didn't take this cruise to argue w/them.
 

Also, our tickets and excursions were not on our door when we arrived.  Had to go to Guest Services to get keys.  Then, they brought us new keys and cancelled the old ones.  The cabin steward said he didn't recognize the name, but I don't know why, as the name was correct.
 

Entertainment: Seemed fine.  We didn't do any shows this time, but we normally do.

Ports: 
 

Dubrovnik: Very clean, nice and interesting.  We did a Celebrity Land & Sea tour that included a boat ride over and a tour of old town.  However, too much emphasis on the show, "Game of Thrones" (it's filmed there), imo.

Santorini: We did a Celebrity tour that didn't involve the cable car, which I wanted to avoid.  It stopped at some ruins (boring, hot & disappointing), a winery for a tasting (excellent location, nice wines), a traditional Greek lunch buffet w/music and dancing (also excellent), a visit to Oia (brief, but excellent), and an opportunity to visit Fira, but on your own if you wanted to take the cable car down (we didn't).  This was a very good tour, overall.
 

Rhodes: A big surprise, actually.  Lush.  Really beautiful.  Lots of nice shops & great Greek food.
 

Kusadesi: Did the trip to Virgin Mary's home (worthwhile), Ephesus (worthwhile, but super hot & somewhat uncomfortable), a trip to a 5 star hotel for a Turkish buffet lunch (excellent), and a carpet weaving demonstration (pretty bad.  Wolf in sheep's clothing attempt to get you to buy a $10k to $20k carpet).  While we enjoyed Kusadesi, their sales people are extremely aggressive and pushy.

Nafpilo: Quaint.  Lots of cute little shops and good restaurants.  Go right as you get off the tender.

Overall: We had a nice time and recommend this itinerary.  There were some issues, but the experience was more good than bad.  Don't hesitate to reach out privately or in one of the aforementioned threads if you have any questions.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Stockjock

[cruisestitch]

What was the name of the excursion in Santorini please

[Stockjock]

4 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

What was the name of the excursion in Santorini please

Destination Highlights: Best of Santorini.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Stockjock

[Baggy178]

You have my sympathy.

My wife enjoys me taking care of every detail of every vacation we go on.

So naturally it's always my fault when something goes wrong.

I find offering her the chance to take over the organisation of everything from that moment onwards quells any dissent.

Never let the tail wag the dog 😅

 

 

[cbfb]

Thanks so much for the review. We love Celebrity but I would have been more than BS to deal with your dinner and excursion issues! Nothing I hate more than spending half my vacation working out issues. So glad you had a good time regardless. 

[Stockjock]

6 minutes ago, Baggy178 said:

You have my sympathy.

My wife enjoys me taking care of every detail of every vacation we go on.

So naturally it's always my fault when something goes wrong.

I find offering her the chance to take over the organisation of everything from that moment onwards quells any dissent.

Never let the tail wag the dog 😅

 

 

I didn't mention the fact that the electricity went out in our room in Athens.  Yes, that too was my fault and resulted in an argument.  

She wanted to book something else online on the spot.  I wanted to be a bit more methodical about things and go for a walk to check out some other nearby options in person.  We did end up booking a different hotel, but the hotel she wanted to book would not have been satisfactory, due to its inconvenient location.  So I'm glad that I held my ground on this issue.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Stockjock

[Baggy178]

8 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

I didn't mention the fact that the electricity went out in our room in Athens.  Yes, that too was my fault and resulted in an argument.  

She wanted to book something else online on the spot.  I wanted to be a bit more methodical about things and go for a walk to check out some other nearby options in person.  We did end up booking a different hotel, but the hotel she wanted to book would not have been satisfactory, due to its inconvenient location.  So I'm glad that I held my ground on this issue.

 

 

Mmm, I sense a pattern developing ...😉

[cruisestitch]

I too have been looking for a Santorini shore excursion that does not involve the cable car. Unfortunately, the one titled “destination highlights best of Santorini” does include the cable car on our cruise so I’m back to a state of confusion on how to avoid the descent via cable, car, doggy, or a walk. 

[Stockjock]

8 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

I too have been looking for a Santorini shore excursion that does not involve the cable car. Unfortunately, the one titled “destination highlights best of Santorini” does include the cable car on our cruise so I’m back to a state of confusion on how to avoid the descent via cable, car, doggy, or a walk. 

You only needed the ticket if you chose to explore Fira on your own rather than stay on the bus, which maybe 10% of the people did.  The other 90%, including moi, stayed on the bus and returned by bus to the same alternate port they dropped off at.

There was no mention of the cable car when I booked the tour and then they not only mentioned it later, but handed out the return cable/tram ticket, but again, you didn't have to use it so long as you chose to stay on the bus rather than get off at Fira.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Stockjock

[GonzoWCS]

Great synopsis.  Thanks for taking the time and effort.  Safe travels.

 

Cheers

[Konfeta]

On 9/17/2023 at 12:56 PM, Stockjock said:

I did a day-by-day thread on this, but here's the condensed review...

 

About us: I'm in my early 60s and my GF is in her late 50s.  I've cruised over 20 times, mostly on Celebrity & MSC.
 

Full Thread/Blog: I did a day-by-day write-up called "We board Infinity in about an hour.  Let me know if you have any questions".  It goes into considerably more detail.
 

Overview: This was a 7 day cruise out of Ravenna, which is about 3 hours from Venice.  It stopped in Dubrovnik, Santorini, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Nafpilo, and ended up in Athens.
 

Our Cabin: Ocean View cabin 3114, which had the double-sized window.  Check YouTube for my recent video cabin tour.
 

Pre-Cruise/Post-Cruise: We spent 3 nights in Venice pre-cruise & 3 nights in Athens post-cruise.  Both are highly recommended.
 

Pre-Flight: We used Flights by Celebrity and it was an utter disaster and exercise in frustration.  See my thread on the Celebrity forum entitled, "A Flights by Celebrity Error that Worked to my Favor" (Hint: it didn't).
 

Transportation: We took Celebrity's paid shuttle from Venice to Ravenna.  It was efficient and inexpensive.
 

The Passengers: Mostly American, an eclectic mix of all ages.  Just about everyone was well-behaved.
 

Embarkation: Relatively smooth, fast and efficient.  
 

The Ship: It's old but in relatively good condition.  I wouldn't hesitate to book it, but there were a few problems to follow.
 

The Food: I ate every bite, but it's gone downhill for sure.  Celebrity has no business mentioning their Michelin-Starred Chef.  It's just not in that league.  Mostly enjoyable, yet at the same time, disappointing given our prior experiences.
 

The Service: Generally very good, but we did have a few problems.
 

Problems:

I booked this cruise over a year ago.  We selected a set late dining at 8:30 pm and this was confirmed.  The first night, there was a huge line for set dining, only after waiting at least 20 minutes, they had to work hard to find us a table.  The next night, they told us we didn't have a set dining time (they'd moved us, for reasons unknown) and another 20 minutes to find us a table, which they said was our table for the remainder of the cruise.  Night 3, someone else was in our table and they handed me a pager (30 mins before closing) and said it would be a 30-40 minute wait to find us a table.  This made my GF cry, giving me a hard time for choosing Celebrity.  She asked, "Why can't we just sit down and enjoy a nice dinner?"  I asked for a supervisor and eventually on night 4 things were straightened out.
 

Shower was cold to lukewarm, at best, when others were apparently showering.
 

Food quality hit and miss.  Many steps down from our prior experiences.  Thin, low-quality sirloin steaks were offered w/a lot of fat and gristle.  Not a lot of variety.  I did enjoy the Prime Rib and Leg of Lamb, but overall disappointing.  The buffet was also hit and miss, ranging from excellent (Greek Lunch) to very good (French Lunch), to pretty good or okay.  We only did dinner once in the buffet and it was just okay.
 

We also had a problem w/our excursions.  In terms of our Rhodes excursion, they moved it from morning to afternoon, then back to morning w/only a slip of paper to tell us that was in with the receipt.  I could have easily missed this, and thus, missed our excursion.

They also cancelled our Santorini excursion, which I had booked during a Flash Sale at 35%.  They said I could book a replacement at full price and then, after I visited the Shore Excursions desk, only begrudgingly offered a 10% discount.  I pretty much demanded 35% off, since it wasn't my fault that they cancelled, and it took a lot of arguing to get them to offer a similar discount, including discussion w/staff, 2 excursions supervisors and Guest Services.  I didn't take this cruise to argue w/them.
 

Also, our tickets and excursions were not on our door when we arrived.  Had to go to Guest Services to get keys.  Then, they brought us new keys and cancelled the old ones.  The cabin steward said he didn't recognize the name, but I don't know why, as the name was correct.
 

Entertainment: Seemed fine.  We didn't do any shows this time, but we normally do.

Ports: 
 

Dubrovnik: Very clean, nice and interesting.  We did a Celebrity Land & Sea tour that included a boat ride over and a tour of old town.  However, too much emphasis on the show, "Game of Thrones" (it's filmed there), imo.

Santorini: We did a Celebrity tour that didn't involve the cable car, which I wanted to avoid.  It stopped at some ruins (boring, hot & disappointing), a winery for a tasting (excellent location, nice wines), a traditional Greek lunch buffet w/music and dancing (also excellent), a visit to Oia (brief, but excellent), and an opportunity to visit Fira, but on your own if you wanted to take the cable car down (we didn't).  This was a very good tour, overall.
 

Rhodes: A big surprise, actually.  Lush.  Really beautiful.  Lots of nice shops & great Greek food.
 

Kusadesi: Did the trip to Virgin Mary's home (worthwhile), Ephesus (worthwhile, but super hot & somewhat uncomfortable), a trip to a 5 star hotel for a Turkish buffet lunch (excellent), and a carpet weaving demonstration (pretty bad.  Wolf in sheep's clothing attempt to get you to buy a $10k to $20k carpet).  While we enjoyed Kusadesi, their sales people are extremely aggressive and pushy.

Nafpilo: Quaint.  Lots of cute little shops and good restaurants.  Go right as you get off the tender.

Overall: We had a nice time and recommend this itinerary.  There were some issues, but the experience was more good than bad.  Don't hesitate to reach out privately or in one of the aforementioned threads if you have any questions.

 

[Konfeta]

Hi, thank you for sharing your cruise experiences can you tell me how was your disembarkation when they let the first group to leave the ship after arrival 

[Stockjock]

11 minutes ago, Konfeta said:

Hi, thank you for sharing your cruise experiences can you tell me how was your disembarkation when they let the first group to leave the ship after arrival 

Not sure about the first group.  We asked to be the last group and they allowed that.  Disembarkation was fast and we did not have to go through Greek Customs.

[Nobuhle]

Could you kindly post the links to your blog and youtube video? Maybe I'm missing it, but I didn't see any links on this post..